Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-01-14

/ II al great people have Rrezi
mem0sies, a. cir ArEhHr Helps de-
claTsE In bis dellghtful book entitled
Social Pressure, Is BY no means
follows thai all those who are nos
sesSed Of great memories ara great
peopie Many an instance mlghs
Dc cited 70 show thai men 81 very
moderate intellectual capacity NAV
be endowed with Q power Of memory
which Is truly pFOdigi0ns. In sd
uttion 10 this there are pieRty Of well
authenticated examples of the extra
ordinary power Of memory displayed
even BY Idiots. In the memoirs 81
Mrs. S0meFTilie there i = curious
account OF q most extraordinary
verbal memory. There was al
idiot in Edinburgh. she tells az, a'os
9 respectable family. who had . re-
m4Ekahle memory. He never failed
70 60 10 the kirk Sunday, and on re-
turning hone would repeat the ser
mon, saying: Here the minister
coIgheds here be stopped 70 blow
bis nose. During the tour we made
In the Highlands, she adds, 1--WE
met with another idiot who knew
the Bible 50 well that If you asked
him whore such g verse was to be
found he could tel without hesita-
ton and repeat the chapter These
examples are sufficiently remarkable;
bur what shall be said Of the case
cited By Archdeacon Fearen in his
valuable pamphlet on !" Mental
Vigorf" There was ia nv fathers
parish. says the Archdeacon, "a
man who could remember the day
when every person had been buried
IN the parish for thirty five years,
and could repeat with unvarying &C
curacy the name and age Of the de-
ceased, with the mourners at the
funeral. But he was 8 complete fool.
Out Of the Line Of burials be bad but
one idea, and could not give an in
telligible reply to single question,
nor be trusted to feed himself
These phenomenal instances may
be matched by the Sussex farm
laborer, George Watson, Is we find
record in Homes Table Book
Watson could not read nor write. yet
he was wont TO perform wondr0us
seats of mental calculations. and his
memory for events seemed to be al
moss fAultless. but the most extra
ordinary circumstance, says Hone,
is the power be possessed of recol-
Letting the events Of every day from
an early period of his life. Upon
being asked what day Of the week
given day Of the month occurred, be
Immediately names il, and also men,
tons where he was and what was the
state of the weather. A gentleman
who had kept q diary, put many
questions to him. and his answers
were invariably correct
Of q similar kind Is the memory
for which Daniel Mccartney has be-
come famous In the United States.
The strange story of this mans
achievements Is told by Mr.. Henkle
in the Journal of Speculative Phil
osophy. Mccartney, in 1869, de-
clared that he could remem Der the
day of the week for any day from
January, 1S27-that is. from the time
he was nine years and four months
old-forty-two and half years. He
has often been tested, and so far as
Mr.. Henkle's account goes, had net
failed to tell bis questioneF what day
1t was, and to give some information
about the weather, and about bis
own whereabouts aud doings on any
of the 1000 or more dates that
might be named. When Mr.. Henkle
first met this man of marvellous
memory he was employed In the
Office of the Hon. T. K. Rudenbrod.
editor of the Salem Republican,
where nothing better could be found
for Mccartney 20 do than turn the
wheel of the printing press two days
OF each week" On the first formal
examination this man underwent,
his answers were tested by reference
to the file OF newspaper, which
gave the day of the week along with
the date. In one case his answer
was disputed, for the day be named
was not the same as that given by
the paper; but on further INQUIRY ii
was found that the newspaper was
wrong, for the printer had made q
mistake. Shorthand notes of the
conversation were taken at subse-
queHt interviews. The report of
these is very curious reading, Take
the following as a sample: Question
October 8, 1892 Answer lin two
seeondsl-W Wednesday. II was cloudy
and drizzled rain; carried dinner to
my father, where he was getting out
coal. Question February 81, 1922
Answer Tin two nds)-Saturday.
Il was cloudy In the morning and
clear in the afternoon; there was a
little snow on the ground. An uncle
who lived near sold horse that day
for $35 And so the conversation
ran on for hours, ranging over forty
years Of McCartney's personal his
tory. Mr.. Henkle tells as that II he
went over some Of the dates again,
after q few days interval, the ans
wers. although given in different
terms, were essentially the same,
showing distinctly that he remem-
bered the facts and not the words
previously used" McCartney's mem
DRY is not confined TO dates and
events; he Is q rare calculator, can
give the cube root Of such numbers
IS 50, 3l9, or 57l, 7S7, etc. can re-
peat some $50 hymas. and start about
200 tunes; has q singuIarly extensive
and accurate kns Wedge Of geography
and never forgets the name of per
son he has once seen or read Of
With all this singular power Of men,
cry, however, he Is not man whose
general grasp Of mind is 81 ali note
worthy.